Buttonhole-sewing machine



F. A. REECE. BUITONHOIQE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1917.

4 S.H EETSSHEET 1.

Fig.1.

\nvenToT.

FmnKl'm A. Rece WMMJW Attys.

F. A. REECE.

BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1917.

1,343,337. I Patented June 15,1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

FLA. REECE.

BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11. 1917.

1,343,337. Patehted June 15, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

4 WIIHHW \nvenTor.

FrunKHnA.Reece WM FRANKLIN A. REECE, or norKINTon; MAssAoHUsETTs, AssIGNoR TO THE nnnon T O I E.

BUTTON HOLE MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 0F MAINE.

BUTTONHOLE-SEWTNG MACHINE,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 15, 1920,' Original application filed December 18, 1915, Serial No. 67,683. Renewed April 1'7, 1920; Serial No."

374,748. Divided and this application filed June 11, 1917. Serial No. 173,914.

erative to cut the buttonhole .while the work is in stitching position thus obviating the necessity of moving the work from stitching position into another position to permit the buttonhole to be out. Other objects of the invention are to provide a novel mechanism for actuating the buttonhole cutter, and 0th erwise to improve buttonhole cutting devices, all as will be more fully hereinafter described. I

In order to give an understanding of my invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which is designed for use in connection with a sewing machine such as illustrated in my co-' pending application SersNo. 67,683, filed December 18, 1915, and renewed April 17 1920, as Serial No. 374,748, and of which the present application is a division, but I would state that the invention isnot limited in its use to a sewing machine of this particular type.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view a sewing machine equipped with my improved buttonhole cutter; 1

Fig. 2 is an underside plan view;

Fig. 3 is a vertical central sectional view of the head of the sewing machine on an en larged scale;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the clutches for operating the stitching mechanism and the buttonhole-cutting mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a section on the.line'55,Fig. 4

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6, Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7, Fig. 4;.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail view of the means for controlling the operation of the I buttonhole cutter.

1 indicates a base frame on which is supported a bed plate 2 that carries the work clamp 9 and from which rises the overhanging arm 3 carrying the upper threadhandling mechanism, as usual in sewing machines of this type. This upper threadhandling mechanism is'in the form of the usual vertically-reciprocating needle bar 4' carrying at its lower end an eye-pointed needle 5. The under thread-handling mechanism is in the fori'nof a rotary element which rotates in a track formed in the easing 7 situated beneath the bed plate 2, as usual in some types of 'buttonhole sewing machines.

Both the upper and under thread-handling mechanisms are operated from a driving shaft 24 situated beneath the bed plate and whichis driven from a driving pulley 181. This shaft 24 is shown as having a spiral gear 47 fast thereon which meshes with a gear 46 fast on a vertically-extending shaft 44. The shaft 44 is connected by means of gears 43, 42 to ashaft 36 from which the needle bar 4 is reciprocated, said-needle bar being connected to a crank 38 on said shaft by means of a link 39. The rotaryelement of the under thread-handling mechanism is given its rotation by means of a shaft 142 which is geared toythe shaft 44 by means of bevelgears 140, 141. v

The work clamp 9 is carried by a clamp plate 8 which is mounted :for to-and-fro-,

movement in the 'bed plate 2 thereby to pro vide for feeding of the work during the stitching operation. This to-and-fro movement is given to the clamp plate 8 by means of a feed cam 25 which is situated co-axially' with the shaft 24 and is driven from the no part The feed cam is provided with a feed cam groove 26 in which is received a roll or projection on the end of an arm 28 pivoted to the frame at 29, saidarm 28 having rigid therewith an extension 30 which is pivotally above-mentioned application." As'the feed connected to the clamp plate8 bythe link 31, this being the construction shown in my.

"cam 25 rotates, the cam groove will give an oscillating movement to the elbow-lever 28,

V 30, thus moving the clamp plate 8 forwardly ,der to cut'the buttonhole.

.The 'buttonhole cutter is shown as sus? tained by a holder 170 which is situated in an inclined position and slides through a bearing 171 carried by the overhanging arm 4 When the buttonhole cutter is raised, as

shown in'Fig. 3, it is entirely out of the way of the stitching mechanism, but when 'it 1s depressed, the cutting edge of 1 the, cutter moves down into position to cut the button hole, while the work is still in stitching position, this being; the result of the, inclined position of the holder 170.

The buttonhole cutter is given its cutting movement by means of an eccentric 172' mounted on the shaft-24L, provision being made for clutching the eccentric to the shaft at the time that the buttonhole isto be out, as will be presently described. i

The veccen'tric172is provided with an eccentric strap 178 having an arm 177 extending therefrom which ispivotallyconnected to one end of a link 176, the other end of said link being connected to a rocking member 17 41 which is pivoted on the stud or shaft 175'. 'This rocking member has a link 173 pivotally connected thereto at80, said link being pivotally connected at 81 to the upper end of the holder 170. vThe link 176 is also pivotally connected to one end of an arm 179, the other end of which is-pivoted at 180 to the overhanging arm 3 of the machine frame. 1' f The rotation of the eccentric 172 will gii e a rising and falling movement to the eccentric strap 178 and its arm 177, and this vibrating movement will be communicated through the link 17 6 to the rocking member 174 and from the latter to the holder-170.

=Twill preferably so design the overhanging "arm 3 that the link 176 and rocking member 174 are inclosed within said arm and the only part of the buttonhole-cuttingmecha-v nism which is'exposed is the cutter 169 vThe link 176 and arm-179 constitute a sortof toggle lever construction by which the cutter can be actuated with considerable force.-

'I llELVllGIGlD provided means whereby the buttonhole cutter can be operated either be- 1 fore thest1tch1ng operation commences on a buttonhole or after the stitching o eration on said buttonhole is completed. WV erethe device is arranged to cutthe buttonholeafter the stitching is completed, I will preferably so construct the operating mechanism that the buttonhole cutter will be actuated automatically at the. proper time in the cycle of operations.

I have stated previously that the shaft 2 1 7 from which the stitch-forming mechanism is operated is driven by the driving pulley 181,

two clutches herein illustrated for clutching the shaft 241' and the eccentric 172 to the driving pulley18l are similar to each other andiI will first describe the means for clutching the driving pulley 181 to and unclutching it from the shaft 24. 7 a

The Vpulley181 is shown as provided with a flange 182, the interior surface 183 of which constitutes a clutch surface, and this clutch surface cooperates with a friction clutch 184 which is carried by a clutch sleeve 185 slidably mounted on the shaft 24;. Said clutch sleeve is shown as provided with a laterally-extending pin 186 on which the clutch 184 is mounted. The clutch 184: is an inside expanding clutch and it is clutched to the clutch surface 183 by expanding it. This expansion of the clutch is secured by a clutch-expanding cam 187 rotatably mounted on a pin 188 carried by the sleeve 185. Said cam has a finger 189 extending therefrom which cooperates with a cam; 190 formed on the hub 191 of the pulley 181. The pulley 181 is rotating continuously. The clutch sleeve 185 is movable longitudinally of the shaft, and when it is moved inwardly toward the pulley, the, clutch finger 189 is brought into the path of the cam 190, and as the pulley rotates, the cam will engage the finger, thereby turning the clutch-expanding cam 187 and expanding the clutch into clutching engagement with theinterior clutch surface 183 onthe pulley. The pulley will thus become locked to the clutch and "thereby drive the clutch sleeve 185." Since the clutch sleeve is splined to the shaft 24, the shaft'will be thus driven from the clutch sleeve. 1 The clutch sleeve,"

is actuated by a clutch-actuator 192 in the form of a lever pivoted to the frame at 193 and having a forked end 1941 which engages pins 296 extending from a ring 195 that loosely encircles the clutch sleeve and engages a collar 297 fast thereon; It will thus be seen that by-shifting the clu'tch'sleeve 'the cam element 25'.

185 to the ri ht, Figs. 2 and 4, the pulley will be clutched to the shaft24. To uncluteh the pulley from the shaft 24, the sleeve 18.5 is shifted to the left, Figs. 2 and 4, thereby to withdraw the finger 189 from the cam 190, and as, soon as this is done, the resiliency of the clutch ring 1.84 will withdraw it from clutching engagement with the surface 183.

I have provided herein automatically-operative means for shifting the clutch sleeve 185 into clutch-engaging position, which mean is normally held inoperative by a latch so that to start the machine it is only necessary to release the latch and allow the automatically-operative means tothrow the clutchinto engagement. I have also provided automatically-operative means to positively disengage the clutch at the end of the stitching operation. The automaticallyoperative means forthrowing the clutch intov engagement is herein shown in the form of a spring 196 which surround the shaft 24 and engages at one end against the bearing 197 for said shaft and at the other end against the sleeve 185. This spring is normally held inoperative by a latch 198 pivoted to the bed plate at 199 and provided with a hook 200 adapted to engage the end of the lever 192, thereby to holdthe clutch disengaged, as shown in F ig; 2. This lever 192 has a link 201 connected thereto which is pivoted to a clutch-disengaging lever 202 that in turn is pivoted at 203 to the frame of the machine and is provided with a nose 204 adapted to be engaged by a stop. cam 205 mounted on the cam element 25. This stop cam 205 is shown in dotted lines Fig. 2 because it is on the back side of The cam element 25 rotates in a direction so that when the stop cam 205 is on the back of the cam element looking at Fig. 2, said stop cam is moving toward the top of Fig. 2, and in its upward movement, it engages the end 204 of the lever 202, thereby swinging said lever in the position shown in Fig. 2 and operating through the link 201 and clutch actuator 192 to disengage the clutch. The stop cam 205. is so positioned on the cam element 25 that the clutch will be disengaged at the completion of the buttonhole. The latch 198 is acted upon by a spring 206 which operates to throw it into engagement with the lever 192 when the clutch has been disengaged by the stop cam 205 and thus the clutch is locked in its disengaged position. To start the machine again the latch 198 is turned against the spring 206 to release the clutch actuator 192,. thereby allowing the spring'196 to throw the clutch into engage-. ment.

While any suitable means may be employed for releasing the latch I have shown herein a starting lever 207 pivoted to the 89. which is adapted to be brought into enbed late 2 and connected by .a flexible connection 209 which passes around suitable friction pulleys. 210 to the end of the-latch 198 so that depression of the starting lever 207 will release the latch and allow the clutch to be thrown into engagement.

As stated above, the buttonhole cutter 169 is also actuated from the driving p111 ley 181 and the means I have herein provided for operating it issuch as to cause said cutter to operate either before the by an expanding clutch ring 221 similar to the clutch ring 184. This clutch ring is expanded into clutch-engaging position by a clutch-operating cam 87 loosely mounted on a stud 88 carried bya clutch sleeve 222 that is splined to the sleeve 219. The clutchoperating cam 87 is provided with an. arm

gagement with the cam 90 on the hub 62 of the pulley 181 when the clutch sleeve 222 is moved to the left,Figs. 2 and 4. The'action of the cam 90 against the arm 89 will ex pand the clutch member 221 and thus clutch the sleeve 219 to the driving pulley. Move ment of the clutch sleeve 222 to the right,

Figs. 2 and 4 will carry the arm 89 out of engagement with the cam 90, thus releasing the clutch. The clutch sleeve 222v is acted upon by a spring 223 which tends'normally 'to throw it into clutching position, and the movement of the clutch sleeve is controlled by a clutch iactuating lever 224 which'is pivoted at 225 and provided with a; forked end 94 engaging pins 95 extending from a ring" 242 that is loosely mounted onthe clutch sleeve 222 and engages a collar 243 fast thereon. This lever 224 is connected by a link 226 to a controller lever 227 pivoted to the frameat 228 and having at itsenda roll 229' adapted to be engaged'bya-stop cam 230 rigid withthe sleeve 219. The

lever 224 is acted upon by a latch 231 which i i normally holds the clutch 221 disengaged, and this latch has a tail 331 which is con nected by a flexible connection 232 to, a controlling lever 233 similar to the starting lever.207. When the controlling lever is depressed, the latch 231 is released thereby allowing the spring 223 'tothrow the clutch 221 into engagement, and when this'occurs the sleeve 219 will be rotated from the driving pulley thereby actuating the buttonhole cutter. As the sleeve completes one rotation the stop cam 230 engages the roll 229 and operates the controlling lever 227 to disengage the clutch 221.

I have provided herein means whereby the clutch 221 for operating the buttonhole cutter is automatically engaged at the time that the clutch 184 for driving the sh'aft'24 is disengaged, so that as soon as the stitchingoperation is ended, the buttonhole will be, automatically cut. Thisis herein provlded for by providing the latch 231 with a pointed nose 234 and by providing a resilient. arm 235 which is secured to the link 201, said arm 235 being so constructed that when the link 201 is moved to the left, Fig. 2, at the timethat the clutch 184 is thrown into clutching engagement,asaid arm Iwill wipe over the nose 234, while when the link 201 moves to the right, Fig. 2, as it does when the stop cam 205 becomes operative to disengage the clutch 184, said arm will engage the flat side of the nose 234 and thereby swingthe'latch 231 downwardly seats to release it from the.

lever 224. When this occurs, the spring 223 will operate to throw the clutch 221 into en gagement, thus setting thebuttonhole cutter in-operation. 1 r

240 is an elbow-lever pivoted to. the frame at 236, said lever carrying a roll 238 adapted to engage a block 239 which is carried by the link 226. This lever is acted upon by. a pulling spring 237. The purpose ofthis lever is to disengage the finger 235 from the 235 acts against the nose 234, as above described, to release the latch 231 from the lever 224, and at this time the resilient arm is carried over the end 241 of the lever 240.. As soon as the latch, 231 is released the spring 223 will throwthe clutch 221 into engagement and this operation will cause the link 226 to move to the right. Such movement of the link 226 will cause the block 239 to engage the finger 238 and thus" turn the lever 240 clockwise about it's pivot 236. This movement of the lever 240 brings the end 241 thereot'against the resilient, arm 235 and raises said arm out of engagement with the tail 234, thus allowing the lat-eh 231 to resume its operative position. W hen,

therefore, the buttonhole has been. cut and the clutch 221 has been disengaged again, the latch 231 will be operative to hold the clutch 221 disengaged until the time comes for cutting the next buttonhole in'the succeeding cycle of operations. 1

I have herein provided a stop device to insure the bringingof the sleeve 219 to rest at a predetermined point when the clutch 221 is disengaged. This stop device is shown in Fig. 6 and comprises a stop lug 211 on a plate 212 secured to the clutch actuating sleeve 222, and a stop dog2l3 which is slidably mounted in a stand 214 carried by the frame and backed by a spring 215. The

stand 214 is so situated that when the clutch 7 sleeve 222 is in the clutch-disengaged position the stop dog2l3 will be'inthe path of movement of the stop lug 211, butwhen the clutch sleeve 222 is moved to the left,Fig. 4,

vto cause the clutch to be engaged, thenthe stop lug 211 is carried laterally. out of en- I gagement with the stop dog 213. Thedirection or" rotation of the shaft 24 is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6 and it will be observed that when the clutch is disengaged and the clutch sleeve 222 has been moved so that the stop dog 213 will be in the path of movement of the stop lug 211, then said stop lug will bebrought into engagement with the stop dog-at a predetermined point in the rotation of the sleeve 219, said stop dog acting to bring the sleeve to rest with a yielding or cushioned movement. In order to prevent any rebound, I have provided herein'a dog 217 pivoted at 218 to the standard 214 and acted upon by a spring 216.

When the stop lug 211 moves around into engagement with the stop dog 213, it will wipe by the dog 21.? and the latter will snap in behind the lug and thus prevent anyrebound after the parts have been brought to rest.

-I claim 1 1. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the

combination with a frame having an overhanging-arm, ofa buttonhole-cutting ele-' ment slidably mounted on the arm, a rocking member connected to said cutting element, a toggle element comprisingtwo members pivotally connected together, one memher being pivotally connected to said rocking member and the other member being pivoted to said overhanging arm, and means acting on said toggle element between its ends, thereby to oscillate the rocking member. Y

2. In abuttonhole sewing machine, the combination with a frame having an overhanging arm, of a buttonhole-cutting element slidably-mounted on the arm, a rocking member connected to said cutting element, a toggle element comprising two members pivotally connected together, one mem-- her being pivotally connected to said rocking member and the other memberbeing pivoted to said overhanging arm, a-drivi ing shaft, and a cam member thereon arranged to act on said toggle element between its ends.

'3'. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the

combination with a. frame having an overhanging arm,of a buttonhole-cutting 'ele ment slidably mounted-on-the arm, a rockpivoted to said overhangingarm, a' driving. shaft, an eccentric thereon," an eccen'trlc strap encircling said eccentric and connected to said toggle, element between its ends.

4. In'a' buttonhole, sewing machine, the combination with a frame having an overhanging-arm, of a holder slida-bly mounted in said arm, a buttonhole cutter carried by said holder, a rocking member pivotally mounted on said arm and connected to said holder, a toggle device comprising two pivotally connected members, one of which is pivotally connected to therockingmember,

a driving shaft, and an eccentric connected nism for disconnecting the clutch upon the completion of a buttonhole, actuating mechanism for the buttonhole cutter, a second clutch for connecting said actuating mechanism to or disconnecting it from the driving pulley, means controlled by said clutchcontrolling mechanism to render the second clutch operative when the first-named clutch is disengaged thereby to cause the buttonhole cutter to cut a buttonhole, and means to disengage said second clutch when the cutting on the buttonhole has been completed.

6. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a driving shaft connected to the stitch-forms ing mechanism, a pulley on said shaft,'a sleeve loosely mounted on said shaft and connected to the buttonhole-cuttingmechanism, means to clutch the pulley to and un-. clutch it from the shaft, and means operative automatically to clutch said sleeve to said pulley when the pulley is unclutched' from the shaft.

7. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a driving shaft for operating the stitch-forming mechanism, a driving pulley loosely mounted thereon, means to clutch the driving pulley to and unclutch it from the shaft, actuating mechanism for the buttonholecutting mechanism, a clutch situated co-axially of said shaft and adapted to connect said actuating mechanism to the pulley,

ate said clutch when the driving shaft is unclut'ched from the pulley.

8. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a

driving shaft for operating the stitch-formand means operative automatically to actu- V ing mechanism, a driving pulley loosely mounted thereon, a clutch by which said driving pulley is clutched to and unclutched from said shaft, clutch-controlling mechanism for disconnecting said clutch uponthe completion of a buttonhole, actuating mechanism for the buttonhole-cutting vmechanism, a second clutch situatedco-axially of saidshaft for connecting said actuating mechanism to said driving pulley, and means ing shaft is 'unclutched from the pulley.

9. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a driving shaft for operating the stitch-formto actuate said second clutch when the driving mechanism, a driving pulley loosely ,mounted thereon, a clutch to clutch the driving pulley to and unclutch it from said shaft, clutch-controlling mechanism fordisconnecting the clutch upon the completion of a buttonhole-actuating mechanism for the buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a second clutch situated co-aXially of said shaft for connecting said actuating mechanism to said pulley, and means controlled by said clutchcontrolling mechanism to actuate said second clutch when the driving shaft is un-' clutched from the pulley.

'10. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a

driving pulley, driving connections between saidpulley and said stitch forming mechanism, a clutch for connecting said connections to or disconnecting them from the driving pulley, other driving connections between said pulley and said buttonholecutting mechanism, a second clutch for connecting said other connections directly to or disconnecting them from the driving pulley, and automatic means to render said second clutch operativewhen the first-named clutch is disengaged. 1

11. Ina buttonhole sewing machine, the:

combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a driving shaft connected to the stitch-forming mechanism, a driving pulley loosely mounted on the shaft and having two clutch flanges, a sleeve mounted on said shaft and connected to the buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a clutch cooperating with one of said clutch flanges to connect the pulley to the shaft, another clutch cooperating with the other clutch flange to connect said pulley to the sleeve.

12. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the

combination with stitch-forming, I mecha nism, of buttonhole-cutting mechanism, a

driving shaft connected to the stitch-form- 7 ing mechanism, a driving pulley loosely mounted on the shaft and-having two clutch flanges, a sleeve mounted on said shaft and connected to the buttonhole cuttingi mechanism', a clutch cooperating with one of said clutch flanges to connect the pulley to the shaft, another clutch cooperating with the other clutch flange to'connect said pulley to the sleeve, and means operative'automatically to render the second clutch operative when the first clutch is disengaged.

V 13. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mecha nism; of actuating means therefor including a clutch, clutch-controlling mechanism for disconnecting the clutch upon completion of a buttonhole,,buttonhole-cutting mechatonhole, and means to render said second clutch inoperative when the buttonhole has been cut. V c c c 7 In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANKLIN ,A. REEC E, 

